does not always woo, at least immediately. To fall for it takes time, a little insight, patience. In this regard, it is like any other relationship. But with its towering reputation, Paris also suffers from the weight of both expectation and projection: people want so much from it, have such fixed ideas about what it should be. And so, it is an easy place not to “get” — like meeting a celebrity crush only to discover them deadly dull. Here then, for anyone visiting to watch the Olympics or otherwise, is a cheat’s guide to Paris.
Find your neighbourhood
. But it’s also a small fortune, and that part of town always feels very scant on what you might call real people.
), the latest from the stylish Orso Hotels group. Far more appealingly priced — rooms for about €230 a night, even during the Olympics — it is a new hotel in a historic building, where Maurice Chevalier made himself a regular. The style is elegant and art deco, with Twenties and Thirties charm (see: the metal-shuttered glass lift, the lived-in homeliness of the rooms, which might come painted terracotta or bronze). It is moments from the famous Avenue Trudaine, a flea market appears nearby on the weekends, and it’s close by the music quarter and the Moulin Rouge.
, open till 3am. The crowd is good-looking. And so it is an easy pick as a base to have.
Other neighbourhoods to explore? Le Marais is known for its shopping, Saint-Germain-des-Prés feels like a village, Butte-aux-Cailles is like the Provence come to town and the Père Lachaise offers quiet to those needing it.
Plan the feasting
), for instance, which claims to be the city’s oldest café (and certainly looks the part, with its 17th century panelling) does a two-course menu for €25.50, three for €32.50. Though the origins are Italian, the food is firmly traditional French — coq au’vin, for instance — and the historic dishes are worth exploring; the tête de veau, cooked as it was in 1686, is gooey, gorgeous.
). The veal sweetbreads with morels there might be perfect; the andouillette is rich, pungent and needs lashing of mustard — but the brave will be rewarded. You might find an entrecôte, plenty of snails, wine favourably priced. And you will almost certainly sit elbow-to-elbow with the table beside you, but it won’t matter (especially as it has its celebrity fans: Bill Nighy goes, Keith McNally, Anna Wintour).
) seems an improbable place to pull off the refined, detailed plates of seasonal food it turns out. That there is no wine list — they ask your taste and go from there — may be novel to some.
(Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009, no website) opens then, and is cheap, homely and does decent French classics — a great pâté de campagne, for instance— though the word is to avoid the pizza at all costs. But then, don’t go to Rome and have the beef bourguignon. There is much else to uncover; this is just the start. Dine, drink, then get back to the Games.
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